Articles posted November 14, 2003

Headlines and features from the Thoroughbred industry

Robert Cole Jr.'s Shake You Down heads a field of 10 in Saturday's $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (gr. I). The 4-5 morning line choice might be the most accomplished entry in the field, but he still has plenty to contend with.

Alberto Giacometti, a group I winner in Europe, worked on the Hollywood Park turf course for the first time Friday in preparation for his U.S. debut in the $600,000 Hollywood Derby (gr. IT) on Nov. 30.

Debuting trainer Leonard Powell, 27, plans to send out his first starter, Labirinto, in the $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, a grade I test at 12 furlongs at Hollywood Park on Nov. 22. "I've got to start somewhere," said Powell with a chuckle.

Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey can set a new North American single season record for stakes wins by a jockey this weekend when he ventures to Calder Race Course in Miami for five stakes mounts on Saturday's big Florida Million card.

Erdenheim Farm's two-time defending winner Dr. Kashnikow bids for a rare Churchill Downs 'hat trick' when he takes on a strong field of veteran turf stars in Sunday's $150,000-added River City Handicap (gr. IIIT).

John Sikura of Hill 'n' Dale Farm near Lexington has announced that Mongoose, the Grade I-winning son of perennial leading sire Broad Brush, who stood the 2003 season at Hill 'n' Dale, will be moved to Florida to stand the 2004 breeding season at William Schettine's Signature Stallions near Reddick, Fla.

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has agreed to limit the potential number of sites for slot machines, eliminating one obstacle to their legalization in the state but also possibly putting Pimlico Race Course in peril.

Excluding the record-breaking handle figures for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program, the Oak Tree Racing Association season concluded Nov. 9 with a slight decline in total handle and declines in on-track handle and on-track attendance.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers Association, which annually present the Eclipse Awards, announced Friday that they will implement new voting procedures for the awards, effective this year.

Soul of the Matter, who has stood his entire seven-year stud career at the Breeders Stallion Station in Japan, returns to the U.S. for the 2004 breeding season at Ernest Auerbach's E. A. Ranches near Santa Ysabel, Calif.

Filling the void left when his half-brother Malibu Moon was recently moved to Castleton Lyons Farm near Lexington, Parker's Storm Cat will enter stud in 2004 at the Pons family's Country Life Farm near Bel Air, Md. The son of Storm Cat's fee will be $3,000.

In the continuing dispute over the Maryland Jockey Club's closing of the Pimlico stables for the winter, the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association has voted to try to stop the MJC from simulcasting out-of-state races.

In the continuing dispute over the Maryland Jockey Club's closing of the Pimlico stables for the winter, the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association has voted to try to stop the MJC from simulcasting out-of-state races.

Entepreneur, a 6-year-old son of Cure the Blues who stood his first season at stud last year at The Stallion Park, will relocate to Liberty Stud near Ghent, N.Y. for the 2004 breeding season. His fee will be $1,500 live foal.